Carol Roach – Keynote 02 2024
17 June 2024 | 17:15 EEST | Auditorium | 
| 
Consolidated programme 2024 / Keynote
Carol Roach
IGF MAG Chair (2024), ICT strategist and e-Government expert for the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Over the last 30+ years, Carol has been a key player as an ICT strategist and an e-Government expert for the Government of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. She has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of services through strategy development and implementation, change management, process redesign, and the procurement and deployment of solutions.
Carol has actively extended her expertise by working with regional and international organizations such as Red GEALC (Network of e-Government Experts in Latin America and the Caribbean), Organization of American States (OAS), CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market), Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and various United Nations organizations.
She is the current 2024 IGF MAG Chair. She is an advocate for the Small Island Developing States, ensuring at every opportunity that their voices are not left out. She is also a proponent for People, Prosperity, and Planet through responsible and sustainable use of internet and digital technologies.
Video record
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj53Bi1J9Uw&t=245s
Transcript
Disclaimer: This is not an official record of the session. The DiploAI system automatically generates these resources from the audiovisual recording. Resources are presented in their original format, as provided by the AI (e.g. including any spelling mistakes). The accuracy of these resources cannot be guaranteed.
Transcripts and more session details were provided by the Geneva Internet Platform
Carol Roach:
Hello. OK, so I’ll just jump in. Distinguished participants, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed my pleasure to address you today at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance 2024. I am Carol Roach from the Cabinet Office of the Government of the Bahamas and the chair of the UN Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group. First, let me take this opportunity to thank the Multistakeholder Organizing Committee of EuroDIG, its secretariat, as well as the government of the Republic of Lithuania for convening us all in Vilnius online. I already had the pleasure to deliver remarks this morning at the National Regional IGF Assembly. Sorry, that was like 3 a.m. in the morning for me, so I had to send a video note. I can only reiterate how important your work is in advancing the multistakeholder dialogue around digital public policy issues at local levels. Very important position. EuroDIG is indeed one of the leading examples of good stakeholder engagement. Many stakeholders present at your meeting greatly support the annual forum in various capacities. I want you to know that we are all immensely grateful for your region’s participation. It is stakeholders like you who make the IGF alive, relevant, and needed. The IGF and its NRIs are the forefront of multistakeholder and multidisciplinary inclusion, allowing for diverse perspectives to come together, perspectives that would have been left aside in closed policymaking discussions. So, you asked me a few questions earlier, and I’m going to pose a few questions of my own. So, in the spirit of IGF, GDC, NetMundial, WSIS, and others, how can we successfully advance the digital transformation journey and the adoption of new policies, rules, and regulations by the broader community if we do not include all stakeholders in the decision-making progress? How can we make sure that we opt for most efficient digital policies that do not further fragment the Internet or spur the digital divide if diverse perspectives are not being taken into account? And lastly, how can we make sure that we opt for digital policies that are people-focused, economy-building, and promote planet sustainability? Especially with the rapid advancement of emerging technologies, including AI, I’m quoting the UN Secretary General who addressed the Council of ITU last week, the pace of innovation is outpacing the capacity to regulate it. With that, I would like to reiterate that we are committed to upholding the multistakeholder, open, inclusive, people-centered model of digital governance, a governance that is very well reflected in this year’s IGF 2024 overarching theme, building a multistakeholder digital future. Our IGF multistakeholder advisory group members have an ambitious upcoming task. With this, I would like to invite you to take part in the open consultation day on June 26. Curating a meaningful IGF program would not be possible without NRIs, and certainly not without the IGF intersessional work. It is great to see so many representatives of the IGF dynamic coalition, policy networks, and best practice forums at EuroDIG program. A part of this year’s forum, we are at an important moment for the Internet and digital space, given several important processes happening. The UNGDC, and aiming to have it agreed upon during the summit of the future, a major outcome, the WSIS-IGF mandate will also be part of WSIS Plus 2020 review in 2025. We will certainly provide a platform at the IGF 2024 to discuss outcomes and preparations. In my role as the chair of the MAG, I invite you to further cooperate and collaborate with us, joining us in working together for a strong IGF that stands for good multistakeholder governance of the Internet. We look forward to your participation at the annual IGF from the 15th to the 19th of December 2024 in Riyadh. I wish you a fruitful meeting, and thank you very much. Thank you very much.